Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-11-27
SNAKE POISON.
HOW The VENOM OF REPTILES IS Ky
TRACTBD AT THE zoo.
RaHlssnaks Held Prisoners BY a Simple and
Curious Conriyanee-Ths Anti
dOtsS for Bites.
81. LOniS RapNblirlll.

for rattlesnake bites, as well as the amount
of the poison necessary to cause death.
Four large rattlesnakes from the Blue
Ridge mountains have been secured, and o
number Of rabbits and pigeons are to be
experimental upon. In order TO secure
the snake venom, the reptile Is seized just
back of the head, tormented until in a
fighting mood and then a small piece of
raw cotton is pushed into his mouth for
him to fill with poison. The cotton is
soaked in glycerine ahd a solution of poi
son thereby obtained with which to inuoc-
ulate the rabbits aud pigeons.
The above dispatch, recently printed,
was shown the other day to John Thomp-
son, keeper OF the serpent house" ut the
Geological garden. He has made a special
study OF venomous serpents, and recently
was entrusted with the task OF collecting
the venom from over 100 serpents for DR..
G Mitchell OF THE oity, who has lately |
completed a work upon the subject.
After reading the clipping carefully Mr..
Thompson handed it back to the artist
who had shown it to him and said:
They my have their own reasons at
the Smithsonian institution for inserting
cotton in a %serpcut's mouth, from which
they wish 10 extract venom, but | fail to
see the need Of using cotton. The venom
of the vipers can be obtained directly from
the serpent by q simple pressure upon the
venom sack Just back OF the eyes, and by
holding some proper shallow white vessel
TO catch the poison as it Spuris from the
aperture at the point of the fiDg. Come
aud Iii show you
Mr.. Thompson led the wa. into a small,
dimly lighted room at the rear Of the snake
house and took down q CUTiOusiy con-
structed instrument tyOm q hook. II was a
round wooden ber four feet long. 4 ;aw
inches from Oueeud oftbe wood was squared
and a broad, thick loop OF leather passed
through small iron staple and terminated
10 a narrow point, where four feet Of stout
sash cord was attached to it. Ths instru'
ment is known as . SNAKE lassO." L. is
used fer capturing and holding during the
operation OF extracting the venom.
NOW, get ready TO hold = banded rat
t!esuake for me while | show you how the
venom can be extracted" eaid Mr.. Them
son. Curiosity and the natural Instinct
for news got the better Of the newspaper
mans timidity. The keeper moved to-
ward the large glass case in which the
rattlcsnakca were confined. The lid Of the
case was lifted cautiously and the leather
loop attached to the bar was allowed to
drop softly toward one of the slr.piny
snakes. The moose was moved rapidly Tor
ward, and before one Of the lot realized
what had happened the leather loop was
firmly closed around his neck. The
snake was then lifted out of the
case. The instrument was placed
in the hands of the artist
with Instructions 10 hold ii tightly. The
snake Immediately began 10 writhe furious.
~, keeping mp n continuous rafting. Pro-
ceeding carefully, Mr.. Thompson moved
one hand, the thumb and for-finger spread
widely apart, slowly down ire bar mp.
preaching the snakes head from ahavc.
The yellow and grey eyes had al ugly
glitter rs they watched the gHafual and
stealthy approach Of the keepers haud.
Tie SOi; cheeks alongside OF the eyes were
softly pressed inward by the two fingers Of
the keepers left hand, while with his
right lie reid the shallow dish closely he
low the cruel, sharp fings. A second or
two elapsed, and then Il thin, fine spray
and few drops Of n yellowish liquid we're
emitted from the snakes mouth and fell
upon the dish.
After several repetitions of this milk
ing'' process, as the keeper termed it, the
snake was released from the loop and
dropped back intO the case again. The
dish, containing about thirteen drops Of
the venom, was now placed on the ledge Of
an open window in the ''work ROOM"
where the venom rapidly crystalized by
evaporation, cracking into small, eIongoted
crystals when thoroughly dry.
Nov, that is the way | obtain the
venom" said Mr.. Thompson. And.
while it is attended very often by greater
danger, | think the experiment more salts
factory than any other way. The qres-
ton so often asked as 10 an infallibie anti
dote for snake poison ! can only answe hy
saying that in several cases | nave seen
used what do not hesitate to ]pr08euncea
certain antidote. While travelling through
the southern portion Of Florida saw a
negro, who bad been bitten, place a large
freshly cut onion, saturated with whiSky,
upon the wound. His life was saved. Tire
snake that had inflicted tie wound was 4
very large specimen Of the great
diamond raLtlcsnake and sure.
ly must have caused his
death but for the timely application Of
this antidOte. | have seen tuipentine
taken in large doses internally and rubbed
upon the wound az an ~antidotc. This was
nsed extensively, as wa also the onion and
whisky cure by the wOrkmen engaged in
the construction of transContIncntal rail
roads, where they met these venemous
reptiles in almost every mile OF track laid
through the Western country. A freshly
killed fowl split In half ard then laid
against the wound made larger by n knife,
has also been known TO act as ~ antidote;
the new flesh of the fowl acting % an an.
sorbent.
WHERE n PERFECT ANTIDOTE Is.
81 am inclined to lean toward the opin-
ion expressed by several Of the most prom
inent opthologists that in n body Of a
snake that can resist the venom Of these